Markus nodded excitedly and the pair shifted over to the other side of her desk. Cecily tapped on a spot on the left side of her desk, and a screen lifted from the center of it. Markus tilted his head.

“Is that standard? The screen?”

“Hm? Oh. No, it isn’t standard; just the way I wanted it to appear. Later on, after my shift, we’ll go to your office, and I’ll help you set up your desk the way you want it. It’s the only piece of furniture that you can shape to your will. Anything else, like my plants and my chair, must be purchased on your own. Now, in order to bring up a soul’s file, you have to…”

Cecily taught him the basics of the administrative tasks of the job, accessing a soul’s file was automatically done as the soul entered the office, so that would be an easy thing for him. Logging the soul as compliant or not, marking any questions they had as well as the answers they were given, how to mark the transfer as finished, and how to mark his office as opened or closed. Near the end of her explanations, her lights cycled from the normal white to a light blue, yellow, and finally a forest green.

“Woah. What’s happening?”

“My shift begins in five minutes. For today, with me, at least, you’re going to just sit there in that chair and watch. Ask questions if you need, but please keep it brief. Alternatively, you can write them down and ask them when we go to your office later. Okay?”

“Got it.” Markus moved to the chair and took a seat, the wood creaking slightly underneath him as the lights shifted once more to their normal white.

It was time.

Cecily marked her office as open, and the door swung inwards. An older man shuffled in, clutching a newsie cap in his hands.

“Please come in, Harold. The door will close itself behind you.” Cecily beckoned to the man, who took a few nervous steps into the office, his eyes scanning everything, finally resting upon Cecily.

Her voice was kind and even-toned. “Welcome to The Afterlife. As our SIGNs must have informed you, you have passed on, faced Judgment for your life, and you are here, in my office to get directions to your next destination. Do you have any questions, sir?”

Harold had reached her desk, worrying at the hat all the while. “I…I don’t know. This all seems rather…well, rather wrong, if I may be so bold, ma’am.”

Cecily cocked her head to the side. “How so, Harold? I’m Cecily, by the way.”

“Well, I was expecting either a choir of angels to welcome me to Heaven, or a demon to drag me to Hell. Not… bureaucracy.”

Cecily laughed. “I understand that. I wasn’t expecting the Afterlife to be set up this way, either. But this is it, I suppose. Now, can I help you with anything, or would you just like directions to your next destination?”

“Where am I going, Miss?”

Cecily scanned his file, tapping on the screen. “It says here that you have qualified for a short stint in Purgatory before being allowed to a Paradise.”

“P-purgatory? What’ll happen to me?” Harold shrank into himself somewhat.

Cecily smiled softly at him. “Nothing to worry about, Harold. You have some growth and healing to do, that’s all. Purgatory is nothing to be scared of. Do you recall Dante’s Inferno?”

Harold cocked his head. “The Divine Comedy? Yes. I read it as a boy.”

“It’s close to Reality. The order is a little messed up, but it’s kind of close. The ‘Nine Levels of Hell’?” Harold nodded. “It’s a Punishment realm -one of many- of varying levels of intensity. It’s possible to graduate through the levels, and eventually reach a Paradise, but highly unlikely.

“Purgatory is separate. As is Paradise. When a soul goes to Purgatory, they basically go through therapy to rid themselves of preconceived notions and harmful beliefs. Their stay there is entirely dependent on them and their progress.

“Once you have finished your stay in Purgatory, you have three choices. You may reincarnate, walk into Oblivion, or go to a prepared Paradise. You may always, at any time, walk to Oblivion. Does this help answer your question?”

Harold had visibly relaxed while Cecily spoke. “So… I’m not Damned? God awaits me in Heaven after I’ve cleansed my soul of Earthly trappings?”

“More or less, Harold.”

Harold stood tall and donned his cap. “Then I am ready, Angel Cecily. Tell me where I must go.”

Cecily smiled and shook her head. “Walk out of my door, go straight across the hall and take the first left you see. That will take you to your Purgatory.”

Harold nodded and thanked her, then left the office. Once the door was closed, the lights momentarily dimmed to yellow.

The door swung open, and a raccoon trundled in on his hind legs. Markus leaned forward, excited to see what would happen here.

When the door closed, the raccoon jumped to the wall, hiding behind a plant.

“Walt? You’re safe, now. Please come over here, and I’ll direct you to where you can go.”

Walt peered out from behind the foliage. “Are you sure it’s gone? The loud, growling, smelly thing is gone?”

Loud, growling, smelly thing? What in the world could….Oh. A car. Poor guy. Markus frowned. When would people pay attention to their surroundings?

“Yes, Walt. It’s gone. You won’t have to worry about it again. Come on over here.”

Walt waddled over to the desk, and clambered up on top of it. “You look like a two-leg. How can you talk to me?”

“Walt, what I’m about to tell you isn’t pleasant. You have died. You’re in the Afterlife, and you have some choices to make.”

“I’m dead? How? What happened?” Walt leaned forward, his teeth bared.

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“Calm down, Walt. I’ll tell you everything, okay?” Walt nodded and sat on his rear. “The smelly thing? That’s called a car, and it isn’t alive. It’s a machine that we two-legs make, and the person operating it didn’t see you, and you got hit. You were killed instantly. You can argue all you want, and you can be as angry as you want, but that’s the reality of it. Your mate and the kits will be fine.”

Walt relaxed and sighed. “So this is the end, huh? Where do I go from here?”

“That’s up to you. The Powers allow animals to choose their destination. You can go back as a new animal of some sort, you can rest in a Paradise tailored to you, or you can end your soul’s cycles.”

“I want to go back to my mate.”

“I cannot do that. Nor can you. She is moving forward with her life, and you must choose your future.”

“Then let me go back as something. Anything.”

“Leave my office. Take a left, then go right at the first hallway. Keep going. It’ll seem like forever, but it isn’t. I promise. You’ll meet someone who can direct you to your next life.”

Walt hopped off the desk with a thump. The door opened as he reached it, then closed behind him. Once again, the lights dimmed to yellow momentarily, then returned to their normal color.

For the next two hours, this continued. A few more people, but mostly animals, walked through Cecily’s door. Throughout it all, she maintained the same level of calm and kindness, no matter how many times she had to repeat the same, exact thing. As her shift ended, the lights dimmed to blue, and the door clicked.

Cecily slumped in her chair with a sigh. “Stupid fucking people. No matter how many times people are told to just be kind to one another, they keep on making the Same. Fucking. Mistakes.” She turned her head to Markus. “I hope you can find a way to not let this shit get on your nerves, man. Otherwise, your career here will be short, and I may wind up seeing you come through that door.” She heaved a sigh again and stood, stretching. “Let’s get back to your house, then to your office and I’ll help you get set up.”

Markus stood and walked to the door, holding up a hand. “Let me try something.”

Cecily folded her arms and stared at him. “Markus, you can’t open that door to your office. You have to go to the Mortal Realm, first.”

“Must I?” Markus smirked and opened the door, revealing his stark office.

Cecily stared at the man in front of her. How had he done that? “Markus? How did you do that? This is your first day on the job, and you’re opening doors inside this space? I’ve been at this for about seven hundred years, and I still have trouble getting to my office.”

“Death said the same thing,” Markus replied as he walked into his office. “I dreamed myself here the night I got the job, and wound up here a couple of times after through an extreme need. Death decided to run a few tests, and here we are.”

Cecily shook her head as she followed the large man into his office. “Well, let’s get your desk set up the way you want it. We can deal with the rest afterward.”

She showed him how his desk responded to his desires regarding its shape and function. How the filing system kept itself updated for each Liaison’s preferences, and how to modify those for his convenience.

Markus chose to have a broad oak desk with an ebony finish, and made his interface to the filing system a massive touch-screen made of hard-light projections. Cecily cocked her head as he made the choices.

“How does that work, Markus?”

Markus tapped the air where the “screen” was, and an opaque projection appeared, with a keyboard beneath. Typing in his father’s name, he saw his dad’s file on the screen. “Like this, Cecily. Watch.” He scrolled through the entry, just like he would on his cell phone. He zoomed in on the picture of his father, then grabbed the image from the file, dragging it into the center of his desk.

“Meet my father, Cecily.” Markus gave the image a gentle twist, and it began to rotate on top of his desk.

Cecily stood there, slack-jawed. Who was this man? Gingerly, she poked at the opaque figure, meeting resistance similar to that of flesh. “I didn’t know this technology existed.”

Markus shrugged. “I don’t think it does, yet. Not for humans, anyway. Death said something in our interview though, that intrigued me.”

“What did they say?”

“He revealed to me that we humans aren’t alone in the Universe. I figured that of all the things we’ve dreamed up in our heads, someone somewhere has made it a reality. So, here we are.” He picked up the image of his dad and put it back into the file, then waved the whole thing away.

Cecily snorted in disbelief as a knock sounded at the door.

“Come in,” Markus called out.

The door opened, revealing a smiling Lucifer. “Markus! My dear boy, how are you finding your first day?”

Markus grinned. “So far, I'm finding it pretty agreeable. Cecily here helped me get my desk set up, and sitting with her during her shift revealed quite a few things regarding our job.”

“Oh? And how have you decided to set your workstation up?”

Markus grinned and beckoned Lucifer to his side of the desk. “Like this.” He demonstrated the workings of his setup, and much to his delight, Lucifer reached over and started operating it like a pro.

“Fantastic, my boy. I’d no idea you Humans had gotten to this point of technology. Quite efficient.”

“Oh, we haven’t. Not to this degree, anyway. I just figured that someone in the Universe had to have done it, so I went with it.”

“Seriously? That’s your reasoning?” Lucifer shook his head with a chuckle. “Good job. Keep it up. I must go. I just wanted to check in on you. You’ll have a break until about eleven thirty, where Dmitri will pick you up at your home. Tomorrow, you’ll be expected to be waiting at each of your trainer’s offices. I’d be early, were I you. See you later, Markus!” Lucifer walked out, whistling a lively tune.

“How often does he see you, Markus?”

“Well, since I got hired, I saw him every other day or so while I was in Japan. Not much since I came home, though. Why? Is it not normal?”

“No. Not by a long shot. I’ve seen him a few dozen times in my seven hundred years. And never really in that shape. It’s always a serpent for me.”

“Huh. Must make it awkward out in public.”

“It’s always private when Death comes to me. That keeps the strangeness to a minimum. It also doesn’t visit us that much.”

“Maybe he’s trying something new?” Markus shrugged.

“Perhaps. Is what Death said possible? Can you be at my office without me being there?”

Markus walked to his door, holding Cecily’s office in his mind. Opening the door, he saw only another door in front of him across the hallway.

“That’s my door, alright. I’ll tell Andy - he’s on shift right now - to come to my door fifteen minutes before his shift begins. You’ll be leaving our offices about five minutes before shift starts so you can get in without being a disruption. Head home, and I’ll see you in the morning.” Cecily opened her office door, revealing a very different room than what Markus expected to see.

Must be her home. Shrugging his shoulders, he closed his door, refocused on his bedroom, and walked into his house.